Pavlik leaves Youngstown, trainer Loew, for Garcia and Oxnard

Former undisputed middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik has officially split with career-long trainer Jack Loew, and will leave his native Youngstown, Ohio, on Sunday to begin working with Robert Garcia in Oxnard, Calif., his father, Mike Pavlik, told RingTV.com on Friday.

“They’re getting him out of here this weekend. They’re sending him to Oxnard, Calif., to train with Robert Garcia. Kelly should be leaving either tomorrow, Sunday or Monday. I spoke with Cameron Dunkin on Tuesday about it. Kelly is just going to train there,” said Mike Pavlik, his son’s co-manager with Dunkin.

“They’re looking at training for six, seven or eight weeks and then see what type of progess has been made with a fight under Robert Garcia. They, they’ll repeat the process again. Kelly leaving Youngstown has been planned for months, so it had nothing to do with him backing into a lamp post.”

Pavlik is leaving behind a troubled local life by vacating his hometown to train. Last month, he was arrested for a DUI in Canfield, Ohio, after having been treated and released from the Betty Ford Center for a drinking problem in January after a two-month stay.

Dunkin, Arum and Moretti had invited the Pavliks to New York, where they were in attendance for an Oct. 22, HBO-televised bout during which Top Rank Inc. fighter Nonito Donaire won a unanimous decision over Omar Narvaez at Madison Square Garden.

“Everybody and their mother knows that there has been a lot of negativity surrounding me in Youngstown, especially from the media outlets there. The negativity has flowed all around. I still have a lot of friends there and people who are friendly with me. I can’t even go to the store without somebody wanting to shake my hand or to take a picture with me to get an autograph from me,” said Pavlik.

“To this day, in that small, little city, I’ve probably, since 2007, signed every autograph there. But really, I guess that I haven’t. It’s just that there are some negative parts. Behind my back distractions. So I just think that it’s better to get away and maybe try a different atmosphere. At this stage, you know, what’s it going to hurt? I want to get out there, see what they have, work with personal trainers. Let’s just see what happens.”